Last night was date night, so we snuck over to Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm, their Ashburn location, to have a late dinner. After a fantastic dinner (and dessert, the brownie sundae is awesome!) the sky looked so amazing that I had to double back to snap this photo. Hard to do a sunset like that justice.
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Ashburn, Broadlands, Clyde's, LoCo Photo, Loudoun, Restaurant, Willow Creek Farm
It’s that time of year again. As I sit here typing this, with my morning coffee beside me, my son and my husband are at the second weigh-in and tryout for the Upper Loudoun Youth Football League. This is Wil’s sixth season playing tackle football (he’s 12, soon to be 13), and he absolutely lives for it. Who would have thought that my intellectual, somewhat bookish, computer game-loving son would be happiest strapping on shoulder pads and cracking helmets on the field? I was certainly surprised.
I write about youth sports quite a bit here on LoCoMusings, not in small part because I have four kids that participate on varying teams in Loudoun. My three girls all play softball (two within the Western Loudoun Girls Softball League, and one for the Loudoun Storm travel team), Wil also played lacrosse with Western Loudoun Lacrosse, and this year two of my daughters will play basketball with Western Loudoun Basketball in the winter. One of the best things about raising a family in Loudoun is the smorgasbord of activities across the county that the kids can choose to participate in.
What my son and daughters have learned from their team experiences is how to work together with their teammates, a sense of camaraderie, and a quiet confidence (well, sometimes loud confidence, but still) that comes from doing your best and having success with it. You can’t put a price tag on seeing your child completely excited with their achievement, and proud of him or herself. Worth every moment spent in the stands to get there.
Football is a huge time commitment, not only for my son but for our family. My husband helps coach, and practices (starting the second week of August) are every weeknight until school starts, then twice a week plus Saturday games through the fall. What you see at the practices though, is the best of western Loudoun: families spreading out to watch, moms and dads chatting, little brothers and sisters playing together, picnic dinners. For games, parents and siblings (and grandparents, too) dress in team colors and rattle cowbells to fire their boys up. True community, and I’m looking forward to it. I love being a football mom!
By the way, please mark your calendar for Upper Loudoun Football’s second annual Football Fest…it’s slated for Saturday, August 28th, at Loudoun Valley High School. There will be music, food, and exhibition games, and it’s the primary fundraiser for the league for the year. Keep an eye on the league’s website for more details.
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: basketball, football, lacrosse, Loudoun County, Loudoun Storm, Purcellville, softball, Upper Loudoun Youth Football League, Western Loudoun Basketball, Western Loudoun Girls Softball League, Western Loudoun Lacrosse, youth sports
After a tremendous fundraising effort from the PTO, Emerick Elementary in Purcellville now has a snazzy new entrance sign. Pretty cool!
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Emerick Elementary, LoCo Photo, Purcellville
If you are a regular reader here at Musings at all, you know that I enjoy social media…Facebook and Twitter, in particular, although I harbor a secret crush on blip.fm (I love music, ya know) and I do maintain a profile at LinkedIn. What I’ve noticed lately is that quite a few businesses in Loudoun County have now built a presence in these places, and it has made it so much easier for me to keep up with what is happening here locally. Whether it’s restaurants like Cajun Experience tweeting to let us know about an upcoming crawfish boil, or news updates from Loudoun Independent that are so timely the proverbial ink isn’t dry on the story, there is so much rich sharing taking place. Here’s a cheat sheet for some of the places I’ve found in LoCo that are active on the interwebs… (and please feel free to comment and share, I know there are others I’ve missed!)
- My LoCo Peeps and Places list on Twitter (137 people, businesses, or organizations, at last count)
- Advanced Corrective Chiropractic
- Bluemont Vineyard
- Brambleton
- Cajun Experience
- Catoctin Creek Distilling Company
- Cheers Sports
- Cloud Nine Salon
- Crooked Tree Entertainment
- Fabbioli Cellars
- Haute Dogs and Fries
- Holy Brew
- Jerry’s Flowers
- King Pinz
- Leesburg First Friday
- Leesburg Magazine
- Lost Creek Winery
- Loudoun County Parks and Rec
- Loudoun Magazine
- Loudoun Times Mirror
- Made in Loudoun
- Magnolia’s at the Mill
- Main Street Wings
- Night Light Stories
- Reflections Auto Salon
- Village at Leesburg
- Virginia Wine Time
- Visit Loudoun
- Viva Loudoun
- Westpark Golf Club
- Windy City Red Hots
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Facebook, Loudoun County, social media, Twitter
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Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Ashburn, Hamilton, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Lovettsville, Market Update, Purcellville, Real Estate, Round Hill, Statistics, Sterling
